


Magical Secrets

by TiBun



Category: Marvel
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Bucky Barnes Bingo 2020, Bucky Barnes Needs a Hug, M/M, Magic, Monsters, One Shot, Unicorns, winterhawk - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-10
Updated: 2020-12-10
Packaged: 2021-03-10 06:02:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,233
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27989673
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TiBun/pseuds/TiBun
Summary: Wrongly accused, Bucky Barnes is left for dead by the village he called home.
Relationships: James "Bucky" Barnes/Clint Barton
Comments: 2
Kudos: 46
Collections: Bucky Barnes Bingo 2020





	Magical Secrets

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: I do not own any recognizable characters, I only explore the possibilities.
> 
> Bucky Barnes Bingo: C5 Innocent until proven guilty

“Fucking demon scum!” someone spat and Bucky jerked back as he felt the unpleasant glob of wetness hit his cheek.

He bit his tongue to stop himself from spitting back a response. He wasn’t a demon, he wasn’t born with any sort of magic in his blood at all. But these people wouldn’t listen to him. They were convinced that he was a being of dark magic, and nothing short of the impossible would convince them otherwise.

And the impossible  _ was _ impossible because the magical beings of purity had been hunted to extinction by humans of generations past. Fools who thought that they could infuse themselves with magic they stole. Some had also hunted the dark creatures, but they were more dangerous and harder to kill or even walk away from without being cursed.

Man, Bucky almost wished he was some sort of demon. Then he could curse these modern fools in turn. As it was, they thought he was half human, therefore weaker and they’d be able to get away with their crimes against him.

Bucky didn’t even know why he’d been grabbed and accused of being something more than human. Something that brought bad luck to their little village. But he had. And now he’d been sentenced to be left out in the middle of woods, within an old fairy ring left behind by the extinct fae, but still holding some of their magic. In the night it tempted dark creatures that would devour anything weaker than itself, magic or not.

He was jostled around as he was pushed through the crowd and to a cart, being tied to it so that he’d be forced to walk into the woods himself before being forced into what had become a sacrificial ring for the villagers to get rid of criminals and wrongly accused.

He glanced to the side, catching sight of a solemn face. Blond hair that almost shined in the sunlight, eyes as blue as the clear summer skies, a bow and quiver ready on his back.

“...Clint…” he whispered, unable to look away from the upset face of his lover.

Clint hadn’t been home when Bucky’s been taken by the village law enforcement. He’d been out in the woods on a hunting trip with Natasha and Steve. They had no idea what had been happening, and now they were back too late to plead in Bucky’s favor.

“I love you.” Bucky said slowly, making sure it was clear on his lips. Clint was deaf, and his lip reading wasn’t perfect, so Bucky wanted to make sure Clint knew exactly what his last words to him had been before the mule attached to the cart started moving and he was tugged forward on his death march.

He looked back, watching Clint as long as he could before he was too far to pick him out of the crowd left behind.

This was it. He’d never see Clint again.

He let tears roll down his cheeks as he forced himself to keep up with the steady speed of the mule.

* * *

Countless trees surround him as he treks forward, feeling the prickle of magic against his skin grow stronger with every step until they reach the clearing the fairy ring is in. The cart rolls to a stop and the men on it all hop out, surrounding him as the rope connecting his wrists to the cart was undone.

“Now, we can do this the hard way or the easy way. Your choice, Barnes.” the man who had sentenced Bucky, Alexander Pierce said, gesturing at the ring.

The rules of a fairy ring were simple. Whether by accident or purposely, a non-magical being must step into the ring themselves and would be trapped there for a magical being to collect. Of course it was usually the fae, but once they were gone, other beings of magic began to collect. It was unknown why others could collect those trapped within a fairy ring after the fae were gone. Maybe they were always able to but they feared retaliation from the fae, or maybe the fairy magic was stronger when the fae were around and was enough to stop the other beings, but the past didn’t matter much anymore.

The person entering the ring could not be shoved in or placed within it, the magic wouldn’t be triggered if it was a forced action. Which meant that Bucky had to willingly accept his fate and step forward into it himself. It was the only way he could move freely forward. He was surrounded in all other directions, and his hands were still bound together, so fighting would only deliver himself pain. He knew Pierce and his men wouldn’t leave until Bucky had stepped into the ring, and they all looked eager for an excuse to bring him that pain.

Pierce never had liked Bucky. So it wasn't surprising in the least.

Bucky took a deep breath and strolled forward, willingly entering the fairy ring and sitting down in it’s center.

Pierce looked disappointed but nodded at his men to turn the cart around to head back. “I see you have finally admitted your crimes and have accepted your punishment.”

“I have accepted my fate, but I am still an innocent man, and I believe you are well aware of that.” Bucky responded

Pierce sneered at him before hopping onto the cart and the group of men left the clearing.

Bucky sat still, waiting for them to be far enough away before he pushed himself up to test the idea that there was no escape from an old fairy ring without the help of magic.

He stepped around within the ring. It was strange, really. He didn’t feel contained at all, and he couldn’t even sense the presence of magic like he had on the walk to the clearing. It felt like he was simply in a normal part of the woods.

So, he reached out with his bound hands, reaching them over the line of mushrooms.

Nothing. His hands passed through to the other side no problem.

So he tried taking a step out. He watched as his foot passed beyond the mushrooms and landed on the other side, his body in the middle so he was straddling the line. He then lifted his other foot and pulled it over.

It really couldn’t be that easy to get out! He started walking away before he realized he was surrounded by those mushrooms again, back within the ring.

He tried jumping out, only to land back in the center of the ring.

Running straight out also only deposited right back into the ring.

Stepping out slowly and then standing still only transported him back to the center.

It was like his moments outside it was all just an illusion.

Bucky flopped back down onto the soft mossy center of the ring, giving up his attempts to escape. It only was wasting energy.

Not that he needed energy to be devoured by whatever magical creature of darkness came for him.

* * *

As the sun set, easing the way for the dark of night to overtake the woods, the circle of mushrooms started showing off that they, indeed, held magic. Glowing a greenish blue around Bucky, spreading enough of their glow to light up the clearing dimly. It was equally as comforting as it was terrifying to the man trapped within.

He sighed, laying back and looking up at the moon. It was nearly full, but still lower in the sky so it was obscured by the trees.

Fairy rings should include some sort of magic to ease the anxiety of those waiting within them. Throughout the long hours Bucky’s felt himself drift between a sad acceptance and a desperate anxiety. He’d even tried squashing mushrooms, which didn’t work. They seemed to ghost right through his touch. He also had tried digging under them, but the hole just seemed to fill itself back in and recover itself with moss. Nothing he tried when he needed to move, to try and escape, worked. It only frustrated him back into acceptance—which wouldn’t last long.

Bucky watched the moon climb higher in the sky until it peeked over the trees enough to fully shed light over the clearing. The glow of the mushrooms seemed to grow with the moon’s help.

Bucky suddenly became aware that he wasn’t alone, and he sat up, looking around the clearing until he spotted a pair of eyes, glowing in the light of the fairy ring. Swallowing, Bucky watched the eyes as they moved closer, stepping out from the line of trees.

A deer.

It was just a deer. Peaceful and harmless, probably only looking for a nice patch of grass to snack on.

Bucky relaxed, only for a second before he was pushing himself to his feet and trying to back away.

The deer fixed it’s gaze upon him and began to shift. It’s dull teeth sharpening and growing into long fangs, it’s body distorting as it reared back on two legs that grew thicker, it’s front hooves morphing into clawed, three fingered hands. The rack upon its head looked sharper and more deadly.

The beast was terrifying as it reached out towards Bucky, and Bucky had nowhere to run.

He felt the beast’s claws wrap around his left arm, lifting him up off the ground. The touch burned, like millions of needles stabbing into his skin. He couldn’t help but scream.

There was a flash of light, drawing both Bucky’s and the beast’s attention.

Across the clearing was what, at first glance, a horse. Body as white as the moonlight, with a tail and mane mane of golden sunlight, and it’s whole being seeming to glow. It’s eyes were focused and blue as they stared down the beast as if saying ‘That is not for you’, and upon its forehead was a delicate horn, long and sharp, shifting through the colors of the rainbow.

It shouldn’t be possible, what he was seeing. Unicorns were creatures of light magic. They had been hunted to extinction. Yet here one stood.

The beast growled, swinging Bucky around, and the  _ unicorn _ reared back on its hind legs before charging, leading with it’s horn in a threat.

The beast dropped Bucky to put up a fight, and Bucky tried to scramble away, only to find he was still within the fairy ring’s confines.

Bucky turned back towards the fight in time to see the beast retreat into the darkened woods, and the unicorn turned back towards him. It slowly stepped into the ring and turned so that it stood next to Bucky, looking back at him as if it was offering him it’s back to ride.

In awe, Bucky placed his hands on the unicorn. When it didn’t startle away, he carefully eased himself up onto its back and situated himself. Once he was secure, the unicorn took off, breaking Bucky free of the fairy ring’s power.

The unicorn ran through the woods as if it wasn’t pitch black out, weaving between trees with ease, and never slowing until they approached a campfire with two figures huddled around it.

Steve looked up as they approached, “We were starting to worry.”

“About to go give you backup.” Natasha agreed.

“Steve? Natasha?” Bucky blinked as he carefully slipped off the unicorn’s back.

“Hey Buck, you okay?” Steve asked, standing up and moving over to him, checking him over for injuries.

“He’s going to need his left arm looked at. It might have been infected.” Clint said.

Wait, when did Clint get there? Where was the unicorn? And...why was Clint naked?

Natasha cursed and grabbed something out of her bag before pulling Bucky over to the fire where there was better light.

“What is going on? Why—where is—”

“Clint’s the unicorn that saved your ass, now let me see your arm.” Natasha said.

“What?!”

“There’s still pure light magic in the world, Buck. It just has to hide. A lot of it takes on human forms to blend in.” Steve said.

“What? But…”

“Shapeshifting has a cost.” Steve said, “Clint gives up his hearing to be in a human form. He gets it back when in his true form.”

Bucky looked over to where Clint was pulling his clothes back on.

“How come he’s never told me?”

It’s hard to share the truth with humans, even the ones we love.” Nat said, “He wanted to tell you the truth, but there’s always a risk.”

“We?”

“You’re the only human in our little circle.” Steve smiled, “We stick to our own for the most part, but now that you know…”

“Now that you know I don’t have to hold myself back or lie and say I’m off hunting when I’m actually just running around in my true form!” Clint said, plopping down next to Bucky and leaning into his right side. “Also, we aren’t going back to the village. Fuck them, trying to feed my boyfriend to the monsters. Sorry I couldn’t get there sooner…”

“I’m still mostly in shock to find out you’re a unicorn…”

“Mmm, I’m your sexy unicorn.” Clint said happily.

Bucky smiled, slipping his arm around Clint, “For as long as you’ll let me call you mine.” 

He pulled him into a kiss, ignoring the annoyed sound Natasha made as she tried to heal his arm.

* * *

-End-

**Author's Note:**

> The idea of shapeshifting unicorn Clint inspired by The Middle of the Story by Lissadiane, which is amazing. Please check it out!  
> https://archiveofourown.org/works/27571798
> 
> Thanks for reading!


End file.
